Web-based, real-time communication sessions may be initiated by an entity that invites others to join the communication sessions. Invitations to such sessions may be sent directly or indirectly. For example, a direct invitation may include a popup message in a browser notifying a user that an entity is “calling,” and may provide an ability to join a communication session (e.g., by clicking on the popup message). Because a web service may have to be aware of the browser's network address to send the popup, an invitee may be required to be logged into the same server/service or a known service that can provide the network address to enable sending an invitation directly to the invitee. Conversely, an indirect invitation may include electronic mail (e-mail) notifying the user that a session at a particular uniform resource identifier (URI) has begun or will begin sometime in the future, and the recipient of the e-mail may click a link in the e-mail to join the session. Such indirect invitations may be most appropriate for invitees who are not logged into an appropriate service or who do not want to share their device addresses with others.
Indirect (e.g., e-mail) invitations may be ill-suited to urgent meetings because an invitee may need to retrieve the e-mail from his or her mailbox and to use information from the e-mail to join the meeting. Thus, an e-mail invitation to a meeting may be processed in non-real-time, and a significant delay may occur before the e-mail invitation is read by the user. Further, the e-mail invitation may be accessed on a different device than the one from which a user may want join the session. Also, the device from which the user may want to join the session may not be capable of accessing the correct e-mail account, or may not have e-mail capability.